


Picking Up the Pieces

by katerinamen



Series: The Holmes-Watson Household [1]
Category: Sherlock (TV), Sherlock Holmes & Related Fandoms
Genre: Domestic Fluff, First Kiss, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Mentioned Mrs Hudson, Post-Season/Series 04, Resolved Pining, Sherlock and Rosie
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-07
Updated: 2017-07-07
Packaged: 2018-11-29 00:16:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,570
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11429211
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/katerinamen/pseuds/katerinamen
Summary: Takes place after the events of season 4.Sherlock and John have to solve the puzzle of their relationship while taking care of Rosie.





	Picking Up the Pieces

Sherlock and John didn’t solve any cases for quite some time after the hell around Euros. First, they had to pick up the pieces of 221B, of their relationship, of their lives and glue them back together. John was staying at the place he bought with Mary and while he was helping with reconstruction at Baker Street, Rosie was downstairs at Mrs. Hudson’s. Even though she was great with her John felt somehow bad about leaving her. After all Rosie lost her mother and John felt he wasn’t doing the best he could. All told him differently and if Rosie could properly judge and speak, she would join them but John was never satisfied enough with himself.

The work was done mainly in silence with gentle but nervous smiles between John and Sherlock. They knew they had to talk eventually but neither of them wanted to start. They were both afraid of saying something inappropriate. After the flat was reconstructed, John and Rosie visited Sherlock every day. So a week later it was clear they had to talk. One afternoon when Rosie was sound asleep on the couch and John and Sherlock were sitting in their armchairs, John decided he would be the one to start the conversation. Nevertheless, it was him who had to apologize this time.  
“Sherlock?”

Sherlock looked up from his tea. His expression seemed to be so open, soft and nervous. John thought he never saw his friend like that but maybe he just hadn't noticed.  
“Sherlock I… I must apologize to you.”

“No. You don’t have to.”

“Yes I do. And I also want to. You know, especially for what happened in the morgue… Jesus I could have killed you!”

“John, you weren’t yourself. You lost your wife and I was-“

“You were dying just fine yourself even without my help, yes!” John was shouting now. With this memory in front of his eyes he started to feel fully how he’d hated himself for it. Sherlock remained silent this time; head slightly tilted downwards looking on the floor. After a little while John continued.  
“I’m so sorry Sherlock. I’m sorry for everything that I’ve caused you. It will never happen again. I will never hurt you again. Promise.” A moment of silence followed.

“Then stay.” Sherlock said and looked directly in John’s eyes.

“You mean…”

“Move back here.” His gaze was so intense John felt the urge to cry but his eyes filled with glitter of hope and happiness rather than tears.

“Are you sure? You know, this place would change with Rosie.”

Sherlock looked down again. “Well, do you want to?”

John smiled. It was the biggest smile on his face since a long time ago. “Yes of course. Of course I want to.” After that John got up from his chair, reached down over to Sherlock and kissed him on his forehead before he could think about it too much. For an outsider it would seem as casual as it would be happening every day. But inside these two, a bomb of emotions exploded. John headed to the kitchen for another tea trying not to collapse and Sherlock stayed motionless for the next few minutes.

In two days John and Rosie were settled in 221B. She slept in John’s bedroom upstairs and she had also a new cot next to the sofa where she napped in the afternoon. Her toys were everywhere and the kitchen wasn’t now full only of Sherlock’s experiments (now of course not so dangerous- that ones Sherlock conducted at Bart’s) but also Rosie’s child dishes. Everything seemed perfect. They also started help Lestrade again. Whenever they were on a case, Mrs. Hudson was looking after Rosie. There was the dynamics and tension between them. Uncertain, concerned looks of past few weeks were replaced by genuine smiles and intense staring. They were both pining for each other but cases and Rosie kept them busy enough not to worry about it 24 hours per day.

Sherlock loved Rosie, who would soon start walking, and John loved watching them together.  
“You know, Watson, if you’d wait a moment after you finish the tower and looked at it you might observe the flaws so that the next time you could build it better. There’s no point in destroying it the second you complete it.” Rosie was looking at Sherlock, mesmerized by the low velvet voice John would say, as she would fully understand him but as soon as he got quiet she continued in her action not minding his advice.  
Rosie was a case herself for Sherlock. He observed her movements, hints of words and expressions of her face fascinated by every progress she made. Every evening when John put Rosie into bed, Sherlock would come upstairs to kiss her on her cheek and say good night. Afterwards he and John would sit and watch her falling asleep, both silently grateful for this new home they were building together and also painfully aware of how close to each other they were standing.

But there was something Sherlock never did. He never lifted or held Rosie. John noticed it but didn’t speak of it abiding the habit of them not to talk about such things, until one afternoon. Rosie woke up earlier from her nap while John was still asleep in his chair after he had drifted off with newspapers in his lap. Sherlock was in the middle of an experiment when he heard Rosie mumbling something and standing up unsteadily in the cot. He went over to her. When he got there, Rosie stretched her arms towards him and demanded to get out of there.  
“Oh hello Rosie. Your father hasn’t woken up yet. You’ll have to wait.” she only stretched her arms more and whimpered a bit. Sherlock stared down at her, a hint of fear in his eyes. As he was standing there Rosie started to cry. John woke up and as soon as he saw the scene he knew what was going on.

“Sherlock?”

“Yes, John?” Sherlock answered, not moving his body or gaze.

“Rosie apparently wants you to lift her.”

“It would seem so.”

“Well… would you mind?”

“John I… I’m scared.” That was something John hadn’t quite expected. Sherlock hardly ever admitted his fears or uncertainty along almost every other emotion.

“You’re scared of a child?”

Sherlock scoffed. “No, of course I’m not scared of her. Although children can be very dangerous. There was this case in-“

“Then what’s wrong?” John stood up from his chair and went slowly over to them.

Sherlock exhaled loudly. “I’m scared that… I’ll drop her or just… break her something.“ John relaxed and smiled. He was in fact moved by this. How Sherlock cared.

“Sherlock, for a genius you have really silly fears. I’m sure you won’t drop her just like that and you certainly won’t hurt her just by holding and carrying her.”

“Yes I know it. In theory. I’ve done quite extent research on babies… recently. But I just can’t John.”

Meanwhile Rosie stopped crying, watching these two, maybe thinking how it would end and who would be the one to free her from this boring cot. In the end it was John. He lifted her which was rewarded with a big smile and loud “Da!” from her side. John smiled at her too and then looked at Sherlock again. 

“Okay. Let’s try it like this.” and he started to put Rosie in Sherlock’s arms slowly so Sherlock had time to react. Fear was still visible in his eyes but John saw there determination and love too. Rosie stretched her arms towards Sherlock once again and called him “Da!” too. But luckily, Sherlock didn’t hear it in his concentration. Otherwise he would froze for like five minutes as he would the next day when he’d heard it, which would be unfortunate right now as he might really drop her. 

And then Rosie was in his arms smiling and mumbling something. John had never seen more genuine smile on Sherlock’s face. His eyes lit up and he clutched Rosie closer to his chest. John couldn’t just stand there anymore. He leaned forward and hugged them, one hand at Rosie’s back, one on Sherlock’s. He kissed Rosie on her cheek first and then he brushed his lips along Sherlock’s lightly. It was so gentle, sweet and intimate. Sherlock felt like he might pass out. He gathered all the long suppressed feelings and put them into a proper kiss he planted on John’s mouth. Neither of them was one hundred percent sure this was real but they couldn’t care less. It was just perfect. Their lips connected and they fitted perfectly like two missing puzzles suddenly finding each other after years of searching. They were exploring each other gently, slowly. They had all the time in the world.

It felt like they were standing there kissing forever when Rosie took them back to reality when she twisted in Sherlock’s arms and started to slap their cheeks softly. They broke the kiss and smiled fully at Rosie, then at each other. After a few seconds Sherlock’s expression changed a bit.  
“Will you stay?” he asked, lips trembling a bit.

“What do you mean? We live here.”

“Yes, but will you stay?” And John understood, smile never leaving his face. “Of course we’ll stay. How could I leave Rosie’s dad and the man I love?”

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading :) this is my first work and I really enjoyed writing it so I plan to do some more


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